Liverpool the biggest team in Britain? Get real, Joe. . .

• zocoss

  23 Jul 10, 13:57

   

  

  Talk about stirring up a hornet's nest.

   

   

   

  And if Joe Cole was not aware of the repercussions of his explanations for choosing to join Liverpool, he must know now.

  Cole's insistence that Liverpool remain the biggest club in the country, despite a 20-year wait for their next title, will certainly strike a chord with the Anfield fans and wind up his former supporters at Chelsea as well as those at Manchester United.

  Maybe it was justification of his decision to snub offers from north London, perhaps the England man simply sensed his chance to have a pop back at the Chelsea hierarchy he believes left him with no option other than to quit the club.

  Whatever the motivation, Cole has succeeded in polarising views, and while the recent record of the respective clubs suggests otherwise, it is hard to argue he does not have a case.

  In terms of recent domestic success, of course, Liverpool do not compare.

  Even in this decade, while the Liverpool fans will always have Istanbul, and indeed two FA Cup and League Cup triumphs as well as the UEFA Cup victory in 2001, the club's feats are paltry in comparison with their biggest rivals.

  United can boast six titles since the turn of the century, the World Club crown and Champions League and match Liverpool's four domestic cup triumphs, while Chelsea have three Premier League successes and six domestic knock-out wins.

  And Arsenal, without a trophy since 2005, can still point to two titles, including the "Invincibles" season and three FA Cup successes.

  All of that makes Cole's claim seem ridiculous.

  But of course there is more to a football club than the moment. History is greater than the day to day and in that regard Liverpool are bigger than Chelsea, certainly, if not United.

  For proof, look at the two clubs' respective plans for the future.

  Once Liverpool get proper owners - and it is surely a matter of time before Gillett and Hicks clear off and leave the club in the hands of people who actually want to run it the right way - the plans for a new home for the club in Stanley Park will be progressed.

  That will see a 60,000 home for the club, not as big as Old Trafford but the same size as The Emirates, guaranteeing a bigger income stream.

  Liverpool can make such plans because they know they can fill the ground, as can Spurs expect to sell out at their proposed new 55,000 home to be built adjacent to White Hart Lane.

  But Chelsea have scrapped all plans to relocate from Stamford Bridge - finding a suitable site in the area was an onerous and in the end impossible task - and have also decided against upgrading their home since the club was formed in 1905.

  The reason is simple. The Bridge might have a capacity of only just over 41,000 but there simply are not enough Chelsea fans to justify anything bigger.

  For all the successes brought to the club since the advent of the Roman Abramovich era, their financial growth cannot change the underlying fact that Chelsea are only the third-biggest club in London, behind both Arsenal and Spurs.

  By those standards, they are dwarfed by United and Liverpool - whose worldwide fan base is huge, despite their two decades of top flight under-achievement which should be a badge of shame for all those involved in the stewardship of the club since 1990 - probably Newcastle too, while they are certainly no bigger than Aston Villa.

  Of course, Cole's comments will inflame the Chelsea supporters who were regretting his departure, although by opting to move to Liverpool he has already burned some of his Stamford Bridges.

  Many Chelsea supporters feel more antagonism to the Anfield club than towards their other more obvious rivals, in much the same way as the vestigial hatred between the Blues and Leeds in the 70s lives on to this day.

  Cole, surely, knew what he was saying, will have recognised he has risked becoming the target for the vitriol of the Chelsea fans when the Blues visit Anfield in November, and even more so when the reverse fixture comes around and he returns to SW6 in a red shirt at the start of February.

  But having shown bravery in leaving the comfort zone of London - after having, it seemed, made Harry Redknapp believe he was destined for N17 - Cole has now demonstrated a different sort of courage, the willingness to nail his colours to a new mast.

  Now, of course, he has to prove he made the right decision and that Liverpool is the right place for him to flower. But, without question, he does have history on his side.

  
  
• dukedracula

  23 Jul 10, 16:49

  seriously, the biggest club this coming season is man city....

• Just_do_it_lah

  23 Jul 10, 17:03

  Liverpool is indeed big.... only in reputation lah... hehe.  Clubs need to be successful and Liverpool failure to qualify for CL is a big missed..

  Man City is definitely a team to watch but can their new signings play as a team is yet to be seen...

  The Top 3 is still there + another team will still be challenging each other... i think Chelsea will be THE TEAM to BEAT.

• SGporkz

  23 Jul 10, 22:50

  tml 8am..stay tuned! man city vs sporting lisbon~~

   

• SGporkz

  23 Jul 10, 22:51

  1hr more to chelsea match...against ajax.. hopefully they can win

• potstop163

  24 Jul 10, 00:05

  Originally posted by dukedracula:

  seriously, the biggest club this coming season is man city....

  
  cmon , MAN CITY next season can only say is richest .

  the big clubs surely is MAN UTD , LIVERPOOL( huge fanbase ) , CHELSEA .

   

• dragg

  24 Jul 10, 07:47

  but in a way the article is right.

  once roman leaves, chelsea are history.

   

• zocoss

  24 Jul 10, 14:23

  Liverpool the biggest team in Britain? Only in distant memory, Joe

  By Des Kelly

  

   

  

  Get real, Joe... and find some shorts: Cole claimed to have joined the 'biggest team in the country'... which was right in the 1980s but not now

   

   

  Joe Cole shook hands with his new manager Roy Hodgson then dropped a well-rehearsed 'ad lib' to the media designed to appeal to his new Liverpool audience.

  The decision to move to Anfield was a 'no brainer', he said, because he was 'joining the biggest club in the country'.

  A few jaws dropped. Some suppressed a snigger. But few neutrals questioned the part where Cole admitted his lack of cerebral activity, since it appeared to account for the anachronistic boast.

  Liverpool the biggest club? No doubt they were. They dominated throughout the 1970s and 80s. They had a team Bill Shankly said was 'so respected, it bordered on fear'.

  When the National Anthem was sung at Wembley and Liverpool fans first changed the words to 'God Save Our Gracious Team' nobody batted an eyelid.

  Under Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish they went from being the best in Britain to the best in Europe, no need for any super fluous debates. They had a few unforgettable moments under Rafa Benitez, too, particularly in 2005, but to say all of this justifies any claim still to be considered the biggest club in the country elicits weary sighs of contempt from the other end of the East Lancashire Road.

  At Old Trafford, they point to their own two decades of recent glory, 20 years in which Liverpool have singularly failed to win the title. Over at nearby Eastlands they have been planning for global domination ever since they struck oil under the centre circle.

  Manchester City know they could have bought five Coles had they been remotely interested. They are planning to be the biggest tomorrow, not yesterday.

  At the player's former Stamford Bridge home, Chelsea merely shrugged at the opinion of a peripheral figure they weren't prepared to keep and polished up the shiny Premier League and FA Cup trophies on their mantelpiece.

  Some accused Cole of choosing Anfield by default, not because they were 'the biggest' but because they were the only outfit willing to meet his wage demands. He countered that a memory of how the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end during a European night five years ago was his motivation.

  Well, he might have to wait a while to experience that sensation again. The 'biggest club in the country' are considering whether to sacrifice their European campaign this season because Hodgson is concerned the squad he inherited cannot cope.

  The new Liverpool manager says the early start to the Europa League campaign was a 'lose, lose situation' with some of his players still returning from World Cup duty and yet to recover. 'Where in the list of priorities does the Europa League come?' he asked. 'It's a balance that I cannot sort out on my own. It will be a decision for the club to take on.'

  The mere fact that this is under review is an indication of how far Liverpool have fallen. The club have around 53 players on the books of their first-team squad. If they can't rustle up a side capable of overcoming Macedonia's Rabotnicki from that lot, then Benitez must have made more of a pig's ear of the last 18 months than anyone dared imagine.

  I sympathise with Hodgson's anxieties and appreciate his realism, but there is no point in treating the Europa League like some ghastly inconvenience. It wasn't so long ago this cup was a part of Gerard Houllier's 2001 trophy treble and not many were turning their noses up at it then.

  The rebranded UEFA Cup obviously isn't the summit of Liverpool's ambition; the Premier League comes first. But, in the latter stages of the competition, the Europa League does at least offer a taste of the kind of nights that define the proud history of the club; the nights Cole wants to revisit.

  Many Liverpool fans argue they still deserve to be considered the country's biggest club as Cole suggests, because they have amassed an unequalled haul of 43 major trophies through the years. That seems like the perfect argument for going all out to win another one.

  It's what big clubs do.